


Me Too

by RideBoldlyRide



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Zutara, Zutara Fluff Exchange 2020, because I'm a masochist, first confession of love, god i need to practice these more, hopefully it's fluffy enough?, i'm so out of practice here, in the last hour of the challenge, it's of course when I decide to try a different narrative voice, the wine helped, this was the third rewrite, without being stupidly so?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26592397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RideBoldlyRide/pseuds/RideBoldlyRide
Summary: A failed mission. A cold windy night. A perfect time for a confession.For the Zutara Fluff Exchange of 2020
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76
Collections: Zutara Fluff Exchange





	Me Too

**Author's Note:**

  * For [airiustide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/airiustide/gifts).



The wind is a beast at the cave’s entrance. It growls and hisses, slipping the cold claws to wrap around the two figures huddled near the back against a wall of fiery scales. A small fire gutters before them, fighting to stay alight. A young man with fire in his veins breathes a little more life into the embers, and it flares before them. 

A young woman with ice in her bones flicks the water from the cave entrance, a shudder wrapping around her shoulders. The wall groans and shuffles against their motion. The woman of water and snow absently pats at the scaly arm beside her. 

“It’s okay, Druk. The storm will pass soon.”

He mewls, turning a massive head to her, as if to ask for more reassurance. She offers a watery smile up at him, and sinks further into the warmth emanating from him. Steam bellows from his nostrils, bringing with it a sticky sort of warmth. It wasn’t ideal, she decides, but it would do. Next to her, the man of heat settles beside her, a sorrowful look pulling across his scarred face.

“It’s as good as I can make it.” He gestures at the pitiful fire. “If I put any more into it, it’ll eat up all the fuel.”

Katara shrugs, leaning into his warmth as well.    


“It’s a good thing that I have two firebreathers with me then, huh?”

His arm is shuffled around and he smiles softly as she drapes it over her, bringing her back to his side. There’s a contented smile on her face, but it’s not destined to last for long. 

As it fades, she cocks her head up to look at him. 

“I’m sorry she wasn’t there, Zuko.”

A shadow falls across his face, and she can feel him stiffen slightly. “Me too.”

Silence, save for the roar at the entrance and the gentle gutter of the flames, settles across them for a long moment. Blue eyes study his face from her new position- an angle that was unknown to her, she finds. It was rare for there to be something she didn’t know about him, and she soaks it up. A golden eye flicks down at her as she studies. Suddenly abashed, she glances away, and tries to sit up and away from him, but his arm offers gentle resistance. 

“Where are you going?”

“I- uh- I need to--”

“Katara?”

She ducks her head, but stops resisting. His chuckle she can feel more than hear, and her brow furrows at it. But before she is capable of pulling away to look at him, a gentle press atop her crown stops her. His chest raises as he pulls in a deep breath, his nose buried in her hair. The warmth of his exhale in her hair soothes her, and she feels the coil of uncertainty in her belly start to unravel. He’s the first to speak, though.

“I’m still glad that you came with me.”

His words pull a smile to her lips. 

“Me too.”

Her hands wrap around his forearm, and she buries her nose against it, even as he pulls her tighter to himself. Eyes spring open as the coil is released in her, and she shoots up and turns to face him. 

“Zuko, I--”

Flicking her gaze towards his stopped her, for even in the dim light, they glowed molten. 

“Katara.”

Her attempt to swallow is impeded by her heart in her throat, but she tries to find her voice anyway.

“Yes?”

“I - I’m glad that it’s you. That’s here. With me, doing this. Trying to find her, I mean.” The glow in his eyes has not faded, despite the awkward shuffle he gives, and the hand at the back of his neck.

“I’m glad too.”

“There’s more - and I’m not exactly sure, but I think, well - I’m just not very good with words. Especially-” his eyes shoot up again to meet hers, “- especially with you.”

Her heart beat no longer sits in her throat, but rather drops to her feet. Hope blossoms in her chest where her heart was supposed to reside. When she speaks again, it’s soft, a tenuous smile pulling at her lips. 

“Then don’t talk. Show me.”

The hand at the back of his neck stills, and his gaze is concerned but steady. A coy smile tries to pull at his own lips. He leans forward, his hand reaching as if to cup her cheek, but hovers instead just over the swell. Still meeting his eyes, Katara turns her face into his hand, and his smile grows like the rays of light at sunrise. 

Gently, he guides her forward as he moves to meet her halfway. While his hesitance at the first action had slowed him, this holds no pause, and his lips meet hers with certainty, even if soft. It’s a gentle brush of his lips against hers, but she shudders at the warmth it spreads across her cheeks and down her throat. And when he brushes her lips again, she sighs, and the gentle warmth is not enough, for she still had ice in her marrow. 

Fingers card in his hair, gently pulling the simple cord that held half of it back. Loose, it falls like a curtain around her, and she relishes the sudden distance they have from the world, even as his gentle kisses grow heavier, his teeth grazing her lips. 

His hands restlessly move, one dipping to her collarbone, another slipping to her hips. They pause for a moment, his eyes searching hers. 

She moves against him, and they fall together. 

It’s many hours before they rise again. 

He’s pressed promises like bruises against her skin. She has embedded guarantees like nail scratches in the flesh across his back. 

In the dark, her hand at his chest, his at her hip, she leans in, her lips against his cheek. 

“Me too, Zuko.”

He smiles in the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was fluffy enough... <3 
> 
> ... god I need to practice my fluff game.


End file.
